Well, today is New Years Eve... wow, no it is not, Its Chrsitmas Eve... I cant even think straight in English anymore.... Anyways, tomorrow is Christmas, and being from Ohio, I look for some snow to brighten and spark the Holiday cheer, unfortunately, no hay nieve aqui... And since there is no snow, and I have, in total, heard about 7 Christmas carols/songs this season, somehow it still feels like something is different. Ive learned a lot from this experience, but most of all ive learned that I can travel over 2000 miles to the middle of the world and have a family accept me as thier own and treat me no differently than as if i was their child... This Christmas Id like to give thanks for being given a chance to travel to a little known banana republic and live for 5 months. Ive realized that if there is a place in the world where you want to go and be accepted unconditionaly, go no further than Ecuador. Sure, you might get called a gringo every once and a while, and if you are tall and blonde dont try to hide it, because you stand out like the random old grandma at a rock concert. But, none the less I have never felt so accepted by a group so large. Of course there are the exceptions like in any place, but 99% show nothing but love and compassion. I can spend a total of 2 hours with someone and already we are best friends and they consider me nothing less. The whole atmosphere is different, the things we consider so drastically important and vital to life, here dont seem to matter. Here, they look to the heart, they rely on the family and friends, they care about what genuinely is significant. Unfortunately our culture has influenced every corner of the world, in good ways, but they take the bad as well. Dont get me wrong, I miss my home, my family, my friends, and my adapted life more than you can imagine... but i have realized that no matter what I have or what i dont have, that doesnt really matter too much... its more about the things that you choose to take from the life you have been given. I give so much thanks to God for allowing me to be one of the four lucky Ohians who got to travel to south Quito and live, do extremely hard math, and enjoy the adventures of a nother culture. No matter what i am or where i go in life, a part of me, a part of my heart, will forever be in Quito, Ecuador... Feliz Navidad, Porque nos ha nacido un niño, se nos ha concedido un hijo; la soberanía reposará sobre sus hombros, y se le darán estos nombres: Consejero admirable, Dios fuerte, Padre eterno, Príncipe de paz. (Isaías 9:6)
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